Fogel et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,332, describes a method and apparatus for printing lenticular images which includes imposing lines of information in the form of segmented images of a scene onto a light sensitive material.
Young et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,190, describes a lenticular media having spatially encoded portions within the media used for precisely determining the location of the lenticules within the media.
Oehlbeck et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,719, describes a lenticular print having image bundles and an apparatus for aligning and centering the image bundles under the lenticules in a composite overlay assembly process by encoding angular alignment elements into the photographic material during exposure of the element.
Slater et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,822,038, describes a method and apparatus for stretching, aligning and printing a plurality of images onto lenticular media having spatially encoded portions to a silver halide negative material as an alignment process prior to exposure of the negative and the lenticular media in order to correct for pitch errors between the negative and the lenticular media, but does not describe the nature, composition, nor method of preparation of the integral lenticular imaging element.
Taguchi et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,487, and a divisional patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,580 describes a method and apparatus for recording stereoscopic images onto an integral lenticular media using a scanning exposing device.
Howe et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,751,258, describes an `auto-stereographic` print in which the integral, multilayer color photographic lenticular image also contains an integral reflective backlayer. Since the reflective backlayer is applied on the side opposite the lenticular surface as part of the preparation of the element, the element must then be exposed through the lenticular support.
Telfer et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,912, describes an integral, thermal lenticular imaging media in which the image is developed after heating via exposure with an infra-red light emitting laser.
Morton, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,372, describes an integral lenticular imaging element having an anti-halation layer positioned on the surface of the lenticules of the media, but does not describe the composition nor method of application of the anti-halation layer.
Morton, in European Patent Application EP 0 780 728 A1, describes an integral lenticular imaging element having an anti-halation layer positioned on the surface of the media opposed to the lenticules of the media.
Morton, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,580, describes an integral lenticular imaging element having a non-specular reflective backlayer positioned behind the integral image which reflects more than 80% of the light reaching the reflective layer.
Kistner, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,621, describes a one part coating composition for providing a white reflective backlayer to lenticular images wherein the backlayer is applied after exposure, chemical development, and drying.
Shiba in Japanese Pat. No. 4,097,345 describes a method for applying an anti-reflection overcoat to the lenticular surface of an integral color photographic element having a lenticular support.
Current color silver halide color print materials utilize three color forming layers comprised of a red light sensitive, cyan dye forming layer; a green light sensitive, magenta dye forming layer and a blue light sensitive, yellow dye forming layer. These color print or display materials -reproduce images which are 2-dimensional representations of the original 3-dimensional scene. Attempts to manufacture images in which the viewer perceives a sense of depth (or 3-dimensionality) or, images in which the viewer perceives a sense of motion have been demonstrated by several manufactures using different manufacturing processes.
Existing lenticular imaging methods and materials typically use non-integral or integral silver halide photographic elements. Other methods of lenticular imaging have also been commercialized which use various printing techniques such as lithography, ink-jet, thermal dye transfer or dye sublimation. The characteristics of these processes are such, however, that the quality of the final lenticular image is restrained by the methods and the resolution of the art which subsequently limit the number of images capable of being uniquely resolvable under each lenticule by the viewer. From the perspective of design and manufacturability, the integral silver halide elements are simpler and more attractive than their non-integral counterparts. Specifically, the integral element avoids the inherent variability associated with adhering a lenticular cover sheet to a separate silver halide element. Also, the integral element avoids the possible contamination resulting from this adhesion step.
A typical example of an integral silver halide element, per U.S. Pat. No. 3,751,258, is described in the following Table 1. This element included a permeable reflective backlayer so that after exposure, the element could be processed, with the color developers diffusing through the layer and the by-products of development washing out.
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ Conventional Integral Lenticular Structure.sup.1 ______________________________________ Overcoat Integral Reflective Backlayer (TiO.sub.2 /gelatin) Gelatin Interlayer Blue light sensitive layer Gelatin Interlayer Red light sensitive layer Gelatin Interlayer Green light sensitive layer UV absorbing layer Transparent Lenticular Support ______________________________________ .sup.1 Howe, et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,751,258
Like other photographic elements, the successful manufacture and use of integral silver halide elements, require effective control of static charge generation. The accumulation of charge on film or paper surfaces leads to the attraction of dirt, which can produce physical defects. The discharge of accumulated charge during or after the application of the sensitized emulsion layer(s) can produce irregular fog patterns or "static marks" in the emulsion. The static problems have been aggravated by increase in the sensitivity of new emulsions, increase in coating machine speeds, and increase in post-coating drying efficiency. The charge generated during the coating process may accumulate during winding and unwinding operations, during transport through the coating machines and during finishing operations such as slitting and spooling.
It is generally known that electrostatic charge can be dissipated effectively by incorporating one or more electrically-conductive "antistatic" layers into the film structure. Antistatic layers are typically applied as an outermost coated layer on the side of the support opposite to the emulsion.
A wide variety of electrically-conductive materials can be incorporated into antistatic layers to produce a wide range of conductivities. These can be divided into two broad groups: (i) ionic conductors and (ii) electronic conductors. In ionic conductors charge is transferred by the bulk diffusion of charged species through an electrolyte. Here the resistivity of the antistatic layer is dependent on temperature and humidity. Antistatic layers containing simple inorganic salts, alkali metal salts of surfactants, ionic conductive polymers, polymeric electrolytes containing alkali metal salts, and colloidal metal oxide sols (stabilized by metal salts), described previously in patent literature, fall in this category. However, many of the inorganic salts, polymeric electrolytes, and low molecular weight surfactants used are water-soluble and are leached out of the antistatic layers during processing, resulting in a loss of antistatic function. The conductivity of antistatic layers employing an electronic conductor depends on electronic mobility rather than ionic mobility and is independent of humidity. Antistatic layers which contain conjugated polymers, semiconductive metal halide salts, semiconductive metal oxide particles, etc., have been described previously. However, these antistatic layers typically contain a high volume percentage of electronically conducting materials which are often expensive and impart unfavorable physical characteristics, such as color, increased brittleness and poor adhesion, to the antistatic layer.
For a lenticular support, the antistatic layer additionally needs to be conformal to the lenticules so that the optical properties of the lenticules are not compromised by the overlying antistatic layer.
There remains a need in the industry for lenticular supports that may be easily manufactured, sensitized and finished without excessive generation of static electricity.